Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has brushed aside claims that Sydney should have been chosen to host the 2014 G20 world leaders summit.

The New South Wales Government says Prime Minister Julia Gillard's decision was political and designed to boost federal Labor's poor standing in Queensland.

The current G20 leaders are:

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina)

Julia Gillard (Australia)

Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

Stephen Harper (Canada)

Hu Jintao (China)

Jose Manuel Barroso (European Union)

Francois Hollande (France)

Angela Merkel (Germany)

Manmohan Singh (India)

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (Indonesia)

Mario Monti (Italy)

Yoshihiko Noda (Japan)

Enrique Pena Nieto (Mexico)

Vladimir Putin (Russia)

King Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)

Jacob Zuma (South Africa)

Lee Myung-bak (South Korea)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkey)

David Cameron (United Kingdom)

Barack Obama (United States)

But Mr Newman says Brisbane has come of age and is Australia's "new world city".

He gloated that Brisbane's range of accommodation, transport and convention centres helped the city secure the summit over New South Wales.

"We've beaten them seven times in a row in the State of Origin and now we've secured the G20 2014 leaders meeting from our southern neighbours," he said.

"This city, this state has now really come of age. Particularly, I refer to Brisbane as Australia's new world city.

"I'm sorry that New South Wales have missed out. I guess there can only be one winner in this sort of thing."

In response to this morning's announcement, NSW State Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard said he was appalled because Sydney was a far better option.

"Sydney is the only true world city of Australia," he said.

"It is the city that can best showcase Australia to the world and particularly to the G20 leaders.

"It would appear that Julia Gillard is quite prepared to use the world's leaders as her own political play things by taking them to Brisbane in an effort to shore up the Labor vote in Queensland."

Ms Gillard says the decision to hold the summit in Brisbane is based on capability, and the Queensland capital is better equipped to handle the summit than Sydney.

"I can understand that Sydney's disappointed and that New South Wales is disappointed, but there were a couple of big reasons why Brisbane was selected," she said.

"First, the convention centre here is ready to go... In Sydney, the major convention centre will be undergoing repairs and renovations at that time. And then secondly, we needed to be reassured about airport capacity.

"[There will be] lots of planes, lots of pressure on the airport all in quite a confined period of time. And Sydney Airport does have restrictions and a lot of pressure on it already whereas Brisbane's airport can cater for all of that."

A G20 finance ministers meeting will also be held in regional Queensland.

It would appear that Julia Gillard is quite prepared to use the world's leaders as her own political play things by taking them to Brisbane in an effort to shore up the Labor vote in Queensland.

NSW Minister Brad Hazzard

Cost concerns

Despite some conjecture, Mr Newman confirmed Queensland would also contribute some funds to the summit, which will be held on November 15 and 16, 2014.

"As this event is clearly a Commonwealth Government responsibility, agreement has been reached that the Commonwealth will pay the majority of costs," Mr Newman said.

He earlier said the State Government could not contribute "significant" funding because the former Bligh government left the state in too much debt.

Ms Gillard says the Federal Government will contribute about $370 million to fund the meeting.

"We'll work in partnership with Premier Newman, we'll be looking to Queensland to assist with Queensland Police. I've spoken to Premier Newman about that and I'm sure we'll be able to work in a great partnership to get this done," she said at this morning's announcement.

It is the first time an Australian city will host the G20 leaders meeting, and Treasurer Wayne Swan says having the leaders and finance ministers of the world's biggest economies in Brisbane will put Australia centre stage in world economic affairs.

Mr Swan told AM the Government called for expressions of interest to host the meeting, with Brisbane the clear winner.

"I think Brisbane in particular is the snapshot of our economy more broadly," he said.

"And certainly in terms of Brisbane and Queensland, the logistics here are excellent, the convention centre and the airport were particularly important in those considerations."

Economic boost

There is no bigger international event than the G20 in terms of a meeting of government leaders, and from that point of view it really does show Brisbane has come of age.

"Brisbane might not be quite the level of the London Olympics in terms of security, but I think it won't be far behind in terms of the police, private security and perhaps Army and other security bodies," he said.

"In terms of sweeping for anti-terrorism right down to keeping protesters away, and that's another issue of course, we're almost certain to see protesters."

The announcement has been greeted with excitement by leaders in the state.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk says it is a coup for the city.

"There is no bigger international event than the G20 in terms of meeting of government leaders, and from that point of view it really does show Brisbane has come of age," he said.

"We are the new world city and it is a very exciting prospect for Brisbane.

"It provides an opportunity to showcase our city and an economic boost for our city as well."

David Goodwin from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry says with 7,000 delegates and media expected to attend the summit, the economic benefits will be huge.

"When you host it you get an opportunity to have a major stimulus to your local economy," he said.

"When you do get thousands of people coming in from overseas, your restaurateurs will do well, your hotels will do well."